THE price of parking in council-run car parks in Teignbridge is set to rise from April 1.

A Teignbridge spokesperson said: ‘But following last week’s council budget meeting, the increased charges facing motorists have been pegged to less than half the rate of inflation by Teignbridge Council as it seeks to maintain revenue to support council services and cover increasing maintenance costs.

‘Charges vary across different car parks depending on their location and usage.

‘Overall motorists will pay just over four per cent more on average from April 1 to park in council-run car parks throughout the district.

‘But in a bid to support the night-time economy, motorists will be able to use the car parks overnight (from 6pm to 9am) for free.

‘Sunday car parking costs across the district are being frozen with the cost of a day’s parking being held at £1.

‘Parking will continue to be most expensive in the council’s coastal resort car parks used largely by tourists in the summer months with lower charges being maintained in rural car parks.

‘The increases mean that in the lowest priced car parks, the charge for an hour’s parking will go up from 40p to 50p while in the more expensive resort car parks the increase will take charges from £2.10 to £2.20 an hour.

Speaking at the council budget meeting, Executive Member for Corporate Resources Cllr Richard Keeling also committed the current administration to keeping Teignbridge-run car parks free after 6pm for the next four years.

For details of the increased charges in council car parks from April 1 please see pages 32 to 36 of this week’s paper.